Loud parties prompt possible crackdown

The venerable Carlsbad Woman’s Club, known for doling out scholarships and helping the needy, is facing a city crackdown after complaints of rowdy parties at its Monroe Street clubhouse.

For years the group has been a leading philanthropic organization in the city, thanks primarily to revenue from renting out its headquarters for weddings and other events.

But neighbors say the events frequently feature too much noise, people abusing alcohol and crowds that stay long after dark.

“I understand they give back to the community, but they’re taking away our quiet neighborhood,” said Maria Curry, a resident living nearby. “They rent it out excessively with no regard for how it affects us.”

Based on those complaints, the Carlsbad Planning Commission is scheduled Wednesday to impose a long list of restrictions for the site limiting noise, crowd size, alcohol consumption and other things.

The new rules would essentially be the first imposed since the clubhouse opened more than 50 years ago across the street from Carlsbad High School.

The club’s outdated permit is so lenient it would allow hosting a rock concert beginning at midnight or even later, city planner Van Lynch said Tuesday. The only thing outlawed is hosting “public dances,” which were apparently a significant concern for the city when the permit was approved in 1961.

Leaders of the 62-member Woman’s Club say the neighborhood complaints are overblown and that they’ve done everything possible to limit noise and other problems.

“These events are not unsupervised teenagers running wild, but are rather family celebrations rich in cultural significance, namely quinceaneras and baptisms,” club president Kae Gernandt said in a recent letter to the city.

“We’ve had complaints of innocuous things such as voices of people talking, playing, praying or enjoying a meal together,” she said. “It is our belief that these are normal, everyday neighborhood occurrences.”

In response to complaints, the club has set its own limits, which include instructing disc jockeys and bands to turn down the bass, installing new air conditioning so all windows can be closed and making sure the clubhouse is cleared by 10 p.m.

The revised city permit would force the club to continue with such policies, ban live music outdoors, hire a registered security guard for each event and limit crowds to 150.

“It protects both the city and the club, because we have something to enforce and they have something to go by,” said Lynch, the city planner.

A financial crisis nearly forced the club to sell its 4,800-square-foot building three years ago, but leaders instead remodeled the clubhouse and began hosting more events. And that’s when the number of complaints began to rise.

Club leaders say the new restrictions could jeopardize some of their philanthropy if rental revenue, typically about $20,000 per year, drops. That money goes toward scholarships and other donations.

The club also provides meeting space for many local organizations and partners with groups like Meals on Wheels, Stitches from the Heart and Ronald McDonald House.